Fallout New Vegas is the follow-up to Bethesda’s 2008 video game of the Year, Fallout 3, but does it live up to the success of its predecessor?

Fallout New Vegas takes place in the harsh sands of the Mojave Desert. Taking on the role of courier, (Postman, anyone?) you set out to deliver a highly sensitive package to the Lucky 38 (rat/brat pack version of the Crazy 88?) on the Vegas strip, which has been relatively unscathed from the horrors of the bomb. Once there, you are ambushed and left for dead. But never fear, the story doesn’t end there.

From the very beginning of the game you won’t notice too much of a change in the mechanics or the graphics. Not until a few hours into the game will you really start to see how New Vegas stands apart from Fallout 3. Many of the differences aren’t so pretty, but let’s start with the Good, shall we.

The GOOD:

It’s Fallout!! No matter how many issues the game may have (See the next section) the game is still one of the best open world RPG’s out there. Whether you want to make allies with the good guys and kill Super mutants and huge post apocalyptic monsters, or make friends with the Thugs and kill the good guys, there is no doubt you will have fun doing so! For those people who played Fallout 3, you will need no time picking up and learning Fallout New Vegas because it’s very simila

From the Vegas strip to the Hoover Damn, you will find yourself getting side tracked exploring all that the Mojave Desert has to offer. While you are on this journey, whether alone or with the company of your companions, you will always have Mr. New Vegas the prime DJ who is played by the one and only Wayne Newton, to keep you company on your Journey through the Mojave desert. The addition of Mr. Newton also lends an air of credibility to the game’s Vegas locale.

Simply put, Fallout New Vegas has a great storyline. While the main quest is relatively short, you will still find yourself having around 100 hours of gameplay, through the plethora of side missions that are available to you.

For those of you (like myself) who have played all the Fallout games, you will have some pleasant surprises on your Journey through this post apocalyptic waste land known as New Vegas. One of those being an old friend from Fallout 2 Marcus who helps add some more closure to what happened on that Enclave Oil rig.

The BAD:

One of the only system changes that actually worked well is the new Companion Wheel, which helps you communicate with your companions easily. Now all your commands can be done within a matter of seconds and under three clicks. But the best command system followed by the dumbest companion AI, doesn’t help. Your AI teammates have issues moving over the slightest terrain, especially if you are trying to take the long way around to avoid a fight or sneak. Sadly, they’ll often take the path that leads right into the thick of the fight you were trying to avoid, and most likely will end up dying in the process.

If the game is going to take place in Vegas you better believe you’re going to spend a lot of your hard earned Caps on some Blackjack, Craps, Slots or even some Roulette. That said, if you are going to have these games available, make sure they work correctly. Blackjack for starters could have been improved; because if you are not playing on a widescreen TV or even HD, your cards will be covered under HUD text (and nowhere on the screen does it tell you what you have) so you need to really look hard at your hand. The second issue is best describe by example: let’s say you have a pair of 2’s and you want to split.. You can do so. But now say you get another 2, it won’t let you split that pair of 2’s a second time. Thirdly no matter where you sit at the table or whether or not there is another person at the table, you will always be playing against the dealer and positioned at the same spot on the table with no ability to play multiple hands, which you can do in many casinos.

Beyond this I found myself having to continuously save the game every couple of minutes, just in case the game glitched out, and lost me hours of game time. There were moments in the game where if you were walking along a ridge, or trying to jump over a rock, one could very easily fall through the rock and be stuck until one re-loads. But that was the least of the issues. Some critical storyline and mission glitches made me wonder even more about what Bethesda did to debug this installment. At times I found myself walking on egg shells, fearing a glitch, rather than enjoying the post apocalyptic horror of the game.

The CONCLUSION:

I grew up playing the Fallout Series, and with that in mind, I was truly let down by Fallout New Vegas. Not just from a gameplay stand point, but from a game design stand point as well. Fallout New Vegas doesn’t bring anything new that couldn’t have been done in a DLC. If Obsidian and Bethesda took a little bit more time with the game, fixing the bugs, and making it run more smoothly, maybe then it would feel more like a standalone game. All we can do is enjoy the company of our companions, the bad AI, and the many glitches that will join you on your journey through the Mojave Desert. While the game may have many flaws the game still has a replay view and is enjoyable, and the good news is that most of the issues you will have with the game could and most likely be fixed with a patch. Beyond this Bethesda and Obsidian did a good job on capturing the look and feel of the Vegas strip right down to the bright neon lights.